


perturb

by daxmii



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-02-28 02:24:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13261635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daxmii/pseuds/daxmii
Summary: (v.) to cause to be worried or upsetBoundaries are made and broken between Peter and Tony through some unfortunate bonding moments.





	1. Illustrious

**Author's Note:**

> i should probably explain the premise of this series
> 
> all of the story/chapter titles are gonna be vocab words from my english exam that i already took but hey i've had this idea for a while so uhhhh,,,,,,, yeah
> 
> EDIT: this was originally going to be 6 chapters but i discontinued it but it also kinda stands alone so i'mma pretend that it was supposed to be 3 chapters all along

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (adj.) well known, respected, and admired; highly distinguished; renowned
> 
> \---
> 
> Getting bitten by a radioactive spider is cool and all until you realize that it's not. Peter's heightened senses come with some... extra "perks", and Tony Stark is famous, unfortunately.

Sometimes, you have to be thankful for the weekend. After a long week at school filled with even longer days, Flash’s antics (including being shoved to the ground on Wednesday), and MJ’s shenanigans, Friday couldn’t have come fast enough for Peter Parker. He’d invited Ned over to rebuild the unfortunately fragmented LEGO Death Star, and he’d been clinging to that little bit of excitement for the whole school day. When the time did come, however, things weren’t much better.

The two of them opted to walk home (despite the situation at school, it had been a lovely week outside), but Peter found that he just couldn’t relish it. The sun was too damn bright. Like, can’t-look-up-without-tearing-up bright. That, coupled with a massive headache, made for quite an unenjoyable walk home. Walking home with your eyes glued to the sidewalk presents a special set of challenges, too. After the fifth time Ned had to pull Peter away from an incoming telephone pole, he had to ask, “Dude, what is wrong with you?”

“The, uh,” he thought for a moment, “the sun is too bright.” He realized how ridiculous he sounded after the fact. _Out of the millions of things I could have said, I said the sun is too bright? It’s the sun, dumbass!_

Ned echoed, “The sun is too bright. Right. Are you on drugs?”

“Yeah, I know it sounds stupid, I-!” Peter had to pause to laugh. “It’s a spider thing, I guess.”

“Awesome!” Ned exclaimed. “…What do you mean?”

“I don’t really know, honestly. Ever since I got bit, everything has been really… intense. Like, I think my senses got heightened or something like that,” Peter tried to explain without sounding like a dumbass again. “So, the sun is really, really bright right now. Like, I don’t think I can look up.”

“Awesome.”

“You said that already.”

“Yeah, I know.” Ned shrugged and kept walking. As the two of them continued their stroll through Queens, Peter had a sudden and nagging thought. _I’m forgetting something. I know it. Do I have a project due, or…? No, I finished my Spanish project last night…_ Ned interrupted his train of thought, “Hey, I guess I have to be your guy in the chair and your eyes for now.”

“Thanks, man,” Peter laughed again before being pulled to the side for the sixth time to avoid running into a pole.

“Next time, I’m letting you run into it.”

“I appreciate it.” Peter jabbed Ned in the side with his elbow, eliciting a playful shove from his friend. He tried to ignore the pounding in his head from being tossed side to side. Thankfully for Peter, though, Ned backed out on his promise and pulled him aside for the seventh time on their way home.

Their walk home was silent except for the LEGO pieces rattling in Ned’s bag. Peter, grateful for the quiet, took this time to think about what the hell he could be forgetting. No homework, no Spider-Man business, nothing… Must be the headache.

“We’re here, dude,” Ned interrupted his thoughts again, guiding Peter towards the shade so he could enter the building by himself. “Will you let me wear the mask again? It’s really cool to look through.”

“Whatever floats your boat,” Peter chuckled. “You can start setting up in my room. I need some Advil or something first. Killer headache.”

He knew May wasn’t home, so he had to unlock the door. Except, not...? The knob turned without Peter having to use his key. He put his hand out in front of Ned, trying to see into the apartment. The door creaked as it opened, stereotypical-horror-movie style, and the hair on Peter’s arms and neck stood up. Ned leaned over him to see in.

“Holy shit!” he screeched, shoving the door open, nearly trampling over Peter. He scolded his friend for yelling because, uh, neighbors (and slightly for making his head implode as well), but just as quickly he had the same exact reaction.

“Holy shit, Mr. Stark!” Peter gasped, closing the door behind him. _That's what I forgot--!_ Tony, sitting on the couch, smiled in response. “What are you doing here? How… How did you get in?”

Tony stood up, straightening his suit jacket. “Didn’t your aunt teach you not to use that kind of language? And I broke in, duh. I’m kidding. I’m kidding! She gave me a key when you, uh, started the internship.”

“It’s okay, he knows,” Peter settled, gesturing to Ned. “Oh, uh, this is Ned. My friend. Best friend. Ned, this is Mr. Stark. You-You know that. Jeez, I’m sorry, it’s been a long week. So… why are you here, exactly?”

“Hi, Mr. Stark,” Ned whispered.

“You said your suit needed fixed, but you walked right past Happy… so I thought I’d stop by since I don’t really have anything going on, so… hello,” Tony waved, “and hello to you, Ned.”

“Oh, shit! I’m so sorry, Mr. Stark, I totally forgot! It’s, uh… it’s been a long day. I said that already. I’m-I’m sorry,” Peter sighed, putting his aching head in his palm. He honestly just wished the talking would stop. “Ned, I’m gonna have to reschedule. The-The suit can’t wait. I’m so—!”

“Dude, it’s all good. It’s cool superhero stuff, right? Remember, we agreed: cool superhero stuff before bros,” Ned recited, albeit comically inaccurate. Tony and Peter snorted in unison. “Today’s lasagna day, right? I might just stay here until you get back. May’s lasagna is the best--!”

“Yeah, isn’t it?” Tony interrupted, putting a hand on Peter’s shoulder. Peter winced as the following friendly pats made his head shake. “I don’t have a lot going on, but I am on a bit of a time limit. You ready to go, underoos?”

Ned wheezed, “Underoos--?!” Then, they were out the door, creaking as it closed behind them. The door hadn’t even latched when a flash of lightning cracked and thunder rumbled in front of him. _Wait, no, this is the hallway--Holy shit. Things only get better._ Bright, white lights burned his retinas, shouting crescendoed and echoed throughout the corridor, footsteps boomed, and Peter’s head pounded like there was someone inside trying to get out. He came to the unfortunate conclusion that his neighbors had heard him say “holy shit, Mr. Stark!” and came out to confirm that Tony Stark was, in fact, in their apartment building. They were surrounded by paparazzi. _Fantastic._

“Tony Stark is here! What’s he doing in Queens?”

“Is that-- Oh my God, it is! Tony Stark!”

“What’s Tony Stark doing with Peter Parker?”

“Tony, sign my--!”

The voices, multiplying in quantity and decibels, eventually blended together in Peter’s head. He couldn’t make out each individual voice -- they were all just one, big, cluster of _noise._ He couldn’t make out anything except for the sound of his own heartbeat. He begged for time to stop, for a moment of silence. The hair on the back of his neck stood straight while the walls caved in. 

Reaching for Tony, he found he couldn’t move, and suddenly, he couldn’t breathe either. Wide eyes scanned the crowd for Tony as people only got closer and the noise wrapped around his throat, suffocating him.

"Mr. Stark!"


	2. Placid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (adj.) pleasantly calm or peaceful; tranquil; serenely quiet or undisturbed
> 
> \--
> 
> Tony understands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one's a bit shorter than the rest, but it's supposed to be! hang on, good things are coming.

A choking scream escaped his throat, a pitiful "Mr. Stark!", a futile attempt to kill the noise. His mind conjured images of rubble -- all around him, crushing him, _killing_ him just like the noise. He didn't realize he was moving until he saw the hand on his wrist pulling him away from the crowd. It wasn't until the elevator door shut that Peter comprehended that it was Tony that had saved him from death-by-noise-suffocation. They were in the elevator. They were away from the crowd. Tony was in front of him. He's there. It's okay, _breathe--_

"Breathe, kid." His hands were back on his shoulders, but this time they were more... comforting. Grounding. He tried to focus on the concerned face in front of him, trying to take in the silence of the elevator.  _Ding._  Too loud. Way too loud. "Peter? Peter, hey, keep looking at me. Deep breaths. We're almost to the car, alright? What's wrong?"

"Too loud," Peter choked, trying not to cry in front of one of the most famous men in New York. "Too many... Too many people. Too much..." Unable to find the words to say, he simply waved his hands around his head to express that the noise had simply been choking him. "Just need quiet."  _Ding._  He flinched.

"Okay. Okay. It's alright. We'll be in the car soon, and you can relax. No noise necessary. Okay?"

"...Alright."

The elevator door opened, and Tony wrapped his arm around Peter on their way out, shielding his eyes with his hand. Peter's thoughts raced at a thousand miles a minute, his head felt like it was two seconds away from exploding, and he longed for silence again as the busy sounds of New York filled the air. He thought of Mr. Stark and how... experienced he seemed. Like he knew. Did he know? Could he -- the famous Tony Stark--? _Pssh._ That's preposterous. He thought of Ned, who luckily didn't have to deal with the paparazzi. He thought about the radioactive spider and how it single-handedly saved and ruined his life all at once. Before he could process his thoughts and make them even a little bit coherent, he was being helped into the backseat of a car.

He failed to notice the tears dampening his cheeks until Happy glanced at him in the rear-view mirror. "Jesus, kiddo, what happened to you? Did you and that chubby kid get into a fight? ...Hey, kid, are you alright?" Happy kept talking, and with each word Peter condensed further in on himself. His forehead was on his knees by the time Tony climbed into the driver's seat.

"What happened? Is he okay?"

"Shut up, Happy."

"What?"

"Shut up!"

Silence ensued. The ride upstate was calm, despite Tony being the driver. He was sure not to jostle Peter, who spent most of the ride evening out his breathing and heart rate until he was (hopefully) perpetually peaceful. Occasionally, Tony would look back and ask Peter softly, "Doing good, kid?" The answer would be a simple nod, and no more words were said until the car approached the Avengers compound.

Peter didn't realize he'd fallen asleep until Tony had to wake him up. His headache was nearly gone. "We're here. C'mon, I have something to show you."

The compound was as huge as Peter remembered it. He loved watching the fancy tech as he walked by. This-- this was peaceful. Familiar.

"So, kid," Tony said, entering the passcode to a large door. "Elephant in the room, I know. You wanna talk about what happened? No?"

"Not... not really."

He wanted to talk about it very badly, in reality. The truth was that Peter didn't necessarily want to admit that he had had a panic attack in front of  _the_ Tony Stark. He had broken down crying like a baby in front of Iron-Man.  _Spider-Man_ had broken down crying like a baby in front of Iron-Man.

"Alright. Come with me, then," Tony pressed a green button on the keypad, and the door opened to reveal the most  _beautiful_ thing Peter had ever seen. 


	3. Enthrall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (v.) to captivate or charm; capture the attention of
> 
> \-- 
> 
> Tony's always loved kids.

Before Peter and Tony stood a gigantic room full of workbenches decorated with gadgets, tech, suits, and more. And it was absolutely gorgeous.

"M... Mr. Stark, what is all of this?"

"It's my workspace," Tony said, sitting down in a swivel chair. He pushed himself to a desk where he pressed a combination of buttons that opened a chamber on the wall to reveal an Iron-Man suit prototype. "Like what you see? It's a little something I've been working on."

"I... Not to sound weird, but I could probably live in this room and be okay with it."

"Me too. You know, I do pretty much live in this room." Peter noticed the empty coffee mugs and stacked plates. "I spend most of my time here making stuff like this."

He pressed another button and the Iron-Man suit waved at Peter.

"This is the coolest thing I've ever seen and I've talked to Captain America."

"It's a remote controlled suit. Thinking it'll be an attraction for the next Stark Expo. Press a button and it'll do what you say. Wanna try?"

"Do I?!" 

Peter examined the screen in front of him: a 3D model of the suit coupled with about 300 different presets. He chose one appropriately titled 'Macarena'. Tony let him sit in his chair and mess around with the suit. His face lit up as the suit moved with his instructions. He even moved the model to create his own button. A dabbing Iron-Man was the pinnacle of comedy in Peter's world. Tony couldn't help but watch as the kid moved around from bench to bench, tinkering with stuff and things, being totally in his ideal world. Comfortable silence was shared between the two of them for at least ten minutes.

"Hey, Mr. Stark?"

"Yeah, kid?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"Letting me... y'know, do this. And y-you, being so... understanding."

"Well, yeah, duh. I'm awesome."

"Mr. Stark--"

"I'm kidding! I really am awesome though--"

Peter chuckled, twiddling his thumbs. He pressed the 'Dab' button again.

"Sorry about earlier--"

"Sorry? For what?"

"I haven't had an attack like that in months."

"...Attack?"

"Ever since I got bit... y'know, by the spider... my senses have been... I don't know, enhanced? Everything's louder, everything's more intense than it used to be. So when things are really loud and flashy... like with the paparazzi in the hallway, I kind of... shut down? I freeze up, and I can't do anything except watch as the walls close in on me and everything suffocates me, and--!"

"Whoa, whoa." Hands on shoulders accompanied by a long, stuffy pause. "...I get it, kid. You just feel like you need everything to freeze, right?"

"Yeah... Yeah. How'd you know?"

Another long pause. "Remember the, uh.. The big alien invasion in the city eight years ago? When I... carried that big nuclear missile up into an interdimensional portal... gateway... thing? To be honest, I really don't know what exactly it was--"

"Yeah."

"After that, I got major anxiety. I don't know if it's, what, PTSD?... or... or what, but I was getting nightmares, panic attacks when anyone even mentioned New York, I was-- Y'know, I was a mess. Still am, honestly. I'm rambling. I know. My point is, I get it, kid. I'm not gonna judge you for that."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Wow. I never would have guessed--"

"Yeah. Superheroes can have crippling anxiety too."

Peter snorted.

"That's comforting."

"Just let me know when you need... y'know... Peace and quiet."

"Sure thing, Mr. Stark."

"Now let's get to work on what we're actually here for."

"Oh, shit, you're right--!"

"Language, Peter."


End file.
